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Difficult decision..

01-02-2007, 12:07 AM

'lo all,

I'm about to do a complete computer upgrade, and I'll need a new graphics card as I'm currently on AGP. I'm looking to spend around ?200 and from what I've seen there's a few cards in this range such as the 7900GT, 7950GT, X1950XT, and X1900 XT.

Under windows the ATi cards seem to slightly outperform the nVidia ones, but I was wondering if anyone here has had the chance to perform a direct comparison. I'll be using 32bit Linux so 64bit support isn't an issue, and I'm not bothered about XGL. I'd welcome any other suggestions for cards in that price range too.

Comment

I'm about to do a complete computer upgrade, and I'll need a new graphics card as I'm currently on AGP. I'm looking to spend around ?200 and from what I've seen there's a few cards in this range such as the 7900GT, 7950GT, X1950XT, and X1900 XT.

Under windows the ATi cards seem to slightly outperform the nVidia ones, but I was wondering if anyone here has had the chance to perform a direct comparison. I'll be using 32bit Linux so 64bit support isn't an issue, and I'm not bothered about XGL. I'd welcome any other suggestions for cards in that price range too.

Thanks.

What will you be doing with this system? Gaming?

Both the 79000GT and 7950GT have a higher frame-rate than the X1950XT and 1900XT at this time under Linux.

NVIDIA's proprietary LInux drivers are higher performing than the AMD fglrx at this time. However, when you are choosing your card you will also be betting on the future... Things could very easily change as these present limitations are all software-based and some exciting things are just down the pipe.

Comment

Yeah, I'll be doing some gaming (WoW, Source games with cedega, Enemy Territory, Q4, UT2K4/2K7 when it's out) along with normal use.

It is difficult to decide, as the ATi-AMD cards do have the potential to be better when the drivers are well made (From looking at Windows-side reviews of them).

One thing that could be a potential issue with ATi is that currently I use the nVidia Twinview stuff for my dual head setup, as it allows 3D accel on both monitors and lets me keep the taskbar/panel on the primary monitor without stretching across. (24" primary, 17" secondary monitors)

Is anyone aware as to if it's possible to have a similar setup using an ATi card?

Comment

Yeah, I'll be doing some gaming (WoW, Source games with cedega, Enemy Territory, Q4, UT2K4/2K7 when it's out) along with normal use.

It is difficult to decide, as the ATi-AMD cards do have the potential to be better when the drivers are well made (From looking at Windows-side reviews of them).

One thing that could be a potential issue with ATi is that currently I use the nVidia Twinview stuff for my dual head setup, as it allows 3D accel on both monitors and lets me keep the taskbar/panel on the primary monitor without stretching across. (24" primary, 17" secondary monitors)

Is anyone aware as to if it's possible to have a similar setup using an ATi card?

Yes, a setup like that can easily be done with fglrx. SImply enable BIg Desktop through aticonfig.

Comment

Ah, thanks. I may well end up getting the X1950XT or X1900XT then, even with the current drivers I should see an improvement over my 6800GT and hopefuly they'll have the potential to improve past the nVidia cards in my price range as the drivers get better.

Comment

Yeah, I'll be doing some gaming (WoW, Source games with cedega, Enemy Territory, Q4, UT2K4/2K7 when it's out) along with normal use.

It is difficult to decide, as the ATi-AMD cards do have the potential to be better when the drivers are well made (From looking at Windows-side reviews of them).

One thing that could be a potential issue with ATi is that currently I use the nVidia Twinview stuff for my dual head setup, as it allows 3D accel on both monitors and lets me keep the taskbar/panel on the primary monitor without stretching across. (24" primary, 17" secondary monitors)

Is anyone aware as to if it's possible to have a similar setup using an ATi card?

I have two monitors on an x1900GT and this behavior is actually governed by the Xinerama extensions to the window manager. I use KDE, so the Display control panel lets me pick whether I want the taskbar on screen 1, 2, or spanned. I use mine spanned, but it does in fact work in both of the other configurations too. My two monitors are identical in resolution (both 1600x1200 20.1" LCDs) so I can't tell you how the fglrx drivers would like that. I am betting that it would be just fine though. And since you're running 32-bit, that little XVideo bug won't bite you like it does me as I'm on x86_64.

Comment

Yesterday I found a 256MB 7950GT for ?30($60) cheaper than the 256MB X1950XT, as the cards perform the same under Windows, and the 7950GT should perform better under Linux while being cheaper, so I'll likely now end up buying that when I order my new stuff.

Comment

I'm sure I will, should have it arrive with my P5B Deluxe/E6600/2GB of RAM soon. If anyone is interested I could post some Linux benchmarks of the card for comparison against the X1950Pro reviewed on the main Phoronix site, although that may not be for a few days as I'm insanney busy with school assignments.